Return of Bloodclan
by mOrGa1998
Summary: Scourge asked a cat named Xuezu to complete a... sort of mission for him. One that may change the fates of all the forest clans. One that may bring back the horrors Bloodclan. But will Xuezu be able to do it? Will he win against all four forest clans? Or will he fail? Read the story to find out...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Cloud**

The sun was setting, casting orange rays of light over everything in sight. Clouds were crowding above in the red sky, threatening to pour down the rain at any second. The wind howled, making the leaves and grass sway back and forth as they were hit with its powerful gusts. The moon's silver beams peeking through the open areas of the sky, in which the clouds did not cover.

A black and white tom sat on a grassy patch of ground, his green eyes staring up at the scarlet sky.

He saw a small pitch-black cloud moving in the opposite direction of the rest of its kind, a bit faster as well. Soon the cloud started to take the shape of a small cat with very long claws. The cloud cat floated down to land next to the tom with grace in every movement.

"I knew you would come," the black and white tom greeted the cloud cat with faint annoyance, "So why have you been coming to me in visions like this?"

The black cat gazed straight into the tom's eyes, then announced softly in his high pitched voice, padding around the black and white tom in a tight circle, "I have a... request for you."

The young tom sat unmoving as the small cat padded about him. "Tell me what it is then, then maybe I'll think about it," he stated.

"No... You say you will do the _job...t__hen _I will tell you, Xuezu."

Xuezu stood up meowing, "Why should I do _a__nything _for you, if you don't tell me what I have to do first!"

The cloud cat stopped circling and stepped closer, so close that his icy-blue stared into the unblinking green eyes of Xuezu, their noses nearly touching. It drove a flash of fear into Xuezu's young mind. "I don't want you to back down from a great challenge, on that I'm going to give you."

"Challenge..." He murmured, his tail curling about his paws. "I won't back down from any challenge you throw in my direction!" Xuezu growled, lightning streaking down from the clouds in the sky above them. "Fine, I accept! Now, tell me what you wish for me to do!"

"Good," the cloud cat nodded his head in approval. "Okay. I will tell you now, since I know you will follow through with it."

He started to circle the black and white tom once more. "I want you to re-create Bloodclan and _kill _Firestar, Thunderclan's leader, and tell him that this is revenge for disobeying me, Scourge," After he coolly announced his name, a crash of thunder sounded in the distance, a drizzle lashing down from the darkening scarlet sky. "The first leader of Bloodclan!"

Xuezu followed the small black cat with his eyes, paws frozen to the ground and preventing any movement. "Okay... Fine! I'll do that. But still... what makes it so hard?" he asked, his voice lowering to a whisper as each word passed from his muzzle.

Scourge looked up, cold blue ice seeming to stare into Xuezu's soul.

"What makes it so hard you ask.? You were alive when Bloodclan attacked the forest clans." He looked down at his paws, then added, "We lost, we had numbers but they had something else, something I don't know. I want you to find out what that thing is. Find out what it is, then attack the clans!" The anger that was rising in his voice made Xuezu flinch away from the small ex-leader.

The two cats stood there, as the rain started to pour down harder and harder. Each gazed into the other's eyes. Soon enough they both had their fur plastered to their thin bodies and were shivering in the coldness that covered sky brought upon the world.

Xuezu interrupted the silence. "Okay. But how am I supposed to find out what I need to know? Like they're just gonna give me it!"

"You need to figure that out on your own, Xuezu." Scourge mewed shaking his small body, a failed attempt to remove the rain from his fur. "I expect you to succeed, Xuezu. If not, don't think I won't punish you severely in return."

Scourge turned around and started to pad away when another, larger shape started to slowly come too them. A few heartbeats later, the shape loomed over Xuezu.

He could see that the large shape was a cat; a she-cat. She has dark gray fur with bright, yellow-green eyes.

Scourge stopped as the newcomer approached, "What are you doing here?" He growled, fluffing up his fur and extending his long claws. Then he crouched down, as if about to leap at the newcomer.

The large cat stared at Scourge blankly before chuckling. "To help you of course, why else would I come here? Thunderclan is my enemy as well."

She turned to Xuezu; the tom was looking from her to Scourge, confusion clear in his green gaze.

"My name's Keai. I'll teach you different ways to fight and hunt, to help you reach your goal. But I would recommend you wait... because, how young are you? Like 7 moons old?" She paused, waiting for Xuezu to nod his head. "... You are too young to take the challenge. You should wait a few moons, to prepare yourself." Her voice was hard, somewhat challenging.

Scourge stared up at Keai for a few heartbeats, soon turning his gaze away, muttering a few words to himself. Looking back up at her he meowed "He _was _born in _m__y_clan, so... Uhg. Fine. I'll let you, but just this once!"

The two cats nodded to each other and started to walk away. They looked back, their pelts turning to mist. A few heartbeats later, they were nearly gone; the wind blew their misty bodies away.

Only their scent remained.

As he watched them dissolve, Xuezu felt happy to be given such a hard challenge. But he still thought that his age didn't matter as long as he was able to lead a clan... If not, he would find a cat he trusted, and give them the responsibility of becoming the new leader; the leader of his re-created Bloodclan.

No cat or clan would stop him from succeeding with his goal. He would find out their secret, and now he has thought of a way to do so...

He will join a clan.

And hopefully, later on he will attack them, with a great clan of his own, using their secrets and strengths against them.

**A/N**

**So, here's the prologue of my first fanfiction! ^^ This one has been edited, but it does not mean it is error or confusion free. If you find anything you feel like i should fix, of if there is anything you want me to clarify, please let me know in a review!  
**

**Chapter 1 is being edited right now, but it's a lot longer so it may take a while to edit, unlike this one. After chapter 1, my writing will change a lot. You see, I wrote the prologue and chapter 1 like 2 years ago now. **

**Sorry for taking so long to update, and if this was not what you were hoping for. But in the next few days, I will be editing this story once again. Then I will plan out the rest of the story and continue from where I left off.**

**Thank you for all who have reviewed/favortied/followed this story, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience.**

**Look at my profile for updates, and PM me if you have any questions or suggestions!**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and I promise not to leave any more supper long Author's Notes! ^^**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Hunting**

Xuezu looked up; the sun was shining brightly high above his head.

It had been ten days since he accepted the challenge to re-create the lost clan, Bloodclan. He hadn't seen any other cats about, and neither Keai nor Scourge has come to him in dreams or visions, which was odd, because they both said they would teach him some ways to hunt, and fight.

Maybe they want him to join the clans, before they do, he though over and over. But he couldn't even remember where the forest was. The last 7 days, he had been padding in circles around the twoleg place looking for it, but he kept ending up in the same place he started at.

It was confusing, the the web of thunderpaths made his head whirl with both it's complexity, and smell.

He had finally decided to stop for awhile, hoping it would come to him later. Xuezu started walking back to his den. His den was within a silver tube at the end of the smallest alley in the twoleg place.

Once his resting place came into sight, he started to pad faster. Soon he was running along, his pads scraping against the hard ground.

Only a few heartbeats passed before he jumped into his den, sliding, and rolling about in the green mixture of moss and grass he had put there to make his nest more comfortable.

He stopped spinning, his paws high in the air. He swiped at the roof, making thin claw marks on it. "I can't wait till I can learn some battle moves. I just wish they would hurry up and teach me, or at least visit me. I really want to be able to move on with my challenge."

He sighed and slowly crawled out of his den. "I'll look for some food," he mewed aloud, feeling pathetic for having only himself to speak to.

Starting to walk away from his den, he saw a small movement out of the corner of his eye. He whisked around, feeling his fur beginning to fluff up.

There was nothing there. Just the outline of his den and a small twoleg nest behind it.

He turned back around, his spine still prickling. He stepped forward when he saw the shadow appear once more. _I'm not gonna see anything if I turn around, _he scolded himself, padding down the hard path.

Xuezu just realized that he had only taken a few steps away from his den.

But then he stopped almost right after the conclusion.

_Am I imagining this? Or is this really happening...? _he wondered, looking behind his shoulder. He saw a cat standing a fox length behind him.

Xuezu's fur instantly went on edge, his mind scrambled. _I__'__m not imagining this! _He turned whipped around and saw that the cat behind him was small, just like him. The cat was a tom with white fur and brown bands all around its body, and he had mint colored eyes.

The white and brown cat's eyes flickered with a mix of emotions, and he took a few steps forward before speaking. "Hello," he mewed silently, backing up afterward, confusing Xuezu with the action. The tom turned tail and ran, easily leaping onto the silver tube, then onto the roof of the twoleg nest behind it.

Then the cat's frame was gone.

"What was that about?" Xuezu murmured. He shrugged the thought away and padded off in search of food.

When he returned with a few twoleg scraps in his mouth, the sun was climbing down the sky, painting the originally vast blue plane a light pink-purple. Small gray clouds dotted it with their wispy forms.

He settled down in his nest and started to chew on the food that took him, what felt like forever, to get. . .

_When he had been searching for food, he saw an open, large green twoleg bin. _

_The smell of twoleg rubbish billowed out, making him wrinkle up his small, pink nose. Even though it stunk of rot, he knew that there were edible object within it. He jumped up, slipping slightly on the smooth green surface, even with his short claws extended._

_There were a few black bags, of which he knew held what soon would become his meal. _

_He moved down into the bin, landing on the mushy bags and stumbling a little. He dug his claws in and tore a bag open; twoleg scraps tumbled out, making the stench of the place worsen imensely. Shaking his head, he pawed at the twoleg rubbish, pulling out the things that looked even slightly edible. _

_He was able to grab some berried with white fuzz growing on them; brown sticks, which he had tasted before and really liked; and a half-eaten leg of a bird. He was about to tear apart a second bag when he heard some shouts from behind him. _

_Another black bag flew over the top into the bin, crushing Xuezu under it's weight. A loud bang sounded afterward, the bin growing dark not long after. _

_He scrambled out from underneath the bag and looked up; the top to the bin was closed! _

_"Are you serious?" He meowed to himself, horribly irritated. "Please let me get out..." _

_He padded back and forth, searching for an opening in the bin. But then he heard a low rumble outside, it started to grow louder, soon shaking the bin. A loud squeak sounded, and the vibrations lessened..._

_For a moment, anyways._

_The bin started to shift, making him slide to the far side, slamming him into the walls, and soon it shifted again, making him slip into the open bag. _

_He slid into the front side of the bin as the top started opening, all the black bags crowded into him. The bin went completely upside down, throwing him out of the bin, along with all of the bags. _

_Then he landed heavily in another pile of multicolored rubbish containers, others crushing him as they made their way into the next bin. _

_Xuezu's head was spinning as he tried to climb out of the pile he had landed in. Once he was able to climb out, the larger bin growled, and it jerked forward, throwing him back into its stomach. _

_Crawling out once more, he saw the top move and let the sun light shine through. _

_He jumped up onto the closest bag to the opening and leaped up, his claws struggling to get a grip on it's smoothe surface. After a few heartbeats of struggling, he was finally able to climb out. He saw that he was in a monster, and the monster was picking up yet another large bin full of the revolting black bags. _

_Xuezu leaped down from the monster and started to run. Not to long after, he found the bin he was digging through previously and he saw a few scraps littering the ground. Including the ones he found. He grabbed them happily and ran back to his den._

He was almost done with the twoleg scraps when he heard a soft mew. Looked up from his meal, he saw a brown she-cat with white bans around her legs and back, she carried light green eyes. She looked like the complete opposite of the tom he had seen earlier that day. Her wide eyes had a pleading look in them, and she kept glancing at the food he was holding between his paws.

She took a step back before padding a little bit closer to Xuezu. "S-Sorry. But…" She trailed off and glanced at the scraps he was holding. She sighed and walked away, her tail trailing along the ground.

He watched her go, just then realizing that the she-cat was really thin, and her ribs were poking out underneath her dull fur. As she padded away, he saw the white cat watching his opposite walk toward him.

Xuezu sighed. _I went through a lot for this food. I'm not gonna give it to the two cats!_ But then a wave of grief and guilt washed over him. Staring at his food for a moment, he grabbed it in his mouth and chased after the two cats.

When the cats saw him running toward them, their fur started to stand on end and they raced away with amazing speed, faster than most cats of their size.

"Hey! Wait! I just want to help you!" He tried to mumble through the mouthful of food as he struggled to catch up to the fleeing cats.

Finally, he was able to catch up to the two cats as their pace started to slow, they were wearing out. They looked behind them to see if Xuezu was still following and they froze for a split second, soon turning about quickly, their fur bristling and tail lashing.

"It's okay! I'm not gonna hurt you or anything!" He panted, dropping the food down by his paws. "I was just gonna give you this," He meowed, nodding toward the food. The two cats' fur started to lay flat again as they stared at the scraps. They didn't move, they just stood there and stared at it with hunger in their eyes.

"Well? Do you want it or not?" Xuezu growled at them, getting impatient with the two cats. They still said nothing "Fine. You don't want it, I'm not gonna force you to eat it," He meowed turning around to pad away.

"Wait!"

He turned around to see that the she-cat spoke. "Could we? Could…" She trailed off once more and grew silent.

"If you want the scraps then just tell me!" He yowled at them. He tossed the scraps; they landed between the two cats.

They looked down at the food then back up at Xuezu. The quickly bent down and ate the scraps in a few rapid bits.

They stood back up licking their muzzles. Then they dipped their head in embarrassment, the male stepping forward. "Thanks," he whispered. "Sorry for not introducing ... ourselves. I'm Mint and this ... is my sister Pine." He nodded toward the she-cat when he said her name.

"Sorry to... be a bother to you," Pine mewed. "But we really appreciate ... the food you gave us."

Xuezu dipped his head slightly, "Sure." He turned around, not feeling like talking to the siblings anymore.

He heard a small whisper behind him, one that he could barely make out.

"_I told you it would work, no cat can resist -!_"

"_I guess you were right, your better at doing things - Pine_"

"_Told 'ya so!_"

"_What-ever, let's get going before he hears us._"

"_Why? We could fight - off if - got angry!_"

"_Ya' sure about t'at?_"

"_Of course I am! You -_"

"_No I'm not! -_"

Then the words faded into pawsteps as they walked away.

"I can't believe it! They tricked me!" He growled to himself once he got back to his den. The sun had disappeared by then, and stars were poking out for the world to see. "I fell for their little plot, to be able to get food without working at all! I went through so much trying to get that food! ... I shouldn't of have given them those scraps."

He put his paws over his head and burrowed even deeper in his bed of grass and moss. After a while he finally drifted into a light sleep. . .

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark area, not in his den at the twoleg place, but in a forest.

The sound of screeching cats was everywhere, but he couldn't see anything. He stood there until his eyes adjusted to the darkness about him. He was in a forest, no stars showing above as he looked up. There wasn't even a moon.

He wandered around the small clearing. _Where am I? What is this place? _He kept wondering over and over, asking the same question in his mind.

"Stop walking in circles, Xuezu!"

Xuezu turned toward the sound, seeing a gray pelt emerge from the shadows.

"Keai!?" He meowed, surprised as he watched the large cat prowl toward him.

"Duh, who did you think I was?" She growled at him, amusement dancing in her hard stare. After a short pause, she added, "But I was busy, if you wondering why I haven't showed up in your dreams. But now here I am, and you're too scared to even walk in a straight line! Humph... don't even know why Scourge chose you..."

Xuezu stared at Keai as she talked, anger starting to build up in him. _I'm not scared, I'm not! I'm just confused! That's all, __h_e thought, clawing at the ground. "I'm not scared!" he spoke his thoughts to the larger cat.

She just chuckled a little, "But I guess I should at least see what you can do, before I judge you…" She muttered to herself, completely ignoring him.

Keai growled, launching herself at Xuezu without warning. Not even a heartbeat later Xuezu found himself struggling on the ground, pinned underneath her weight.

Xuezu quickly wore himself out, but he didn't feel like giving up, even though he didn't know how to shake her off. Her larger paws were planted on his chest, crushing the breath out of him, and all he could do was struggle, hoping he could loosen her grip. He glanced up at her, barely able to breathe as she growled disappointingly.

"Oh, please! A Thunderclan apprentice could beat you before you could even take a step forward!"

Xuezu felt anger rush through him when she taunted, but with the anger, power was brought to his limbs. He was able to throw Keai off, after a short while of clawing at her belly fur.

Keai landed on her feet and watched as Xuezu hauled himself back onto his paws.

He stood there, swaying and panting, as he waiting for her to attack him again. But she sat down and stared at Xuezu with a bone chilling look.

Then she chuckled a little, her eyes not so hard anymore, "You will never learn, will you? Struggling like what you were doing isn't gonna get you nowhere. You're lucky I wasn't planning on … hurting you. Otherwise I would of have torn your throat out and fed it to Bloodclan's ancestors!" She growled teasingly.

He shrunk back as Keai growled, _She wouldn't really do that to me… would she? _He crouched down under the hard stare she gave him, even though her eyes were all amusement.

"I still don't know why Scourge chose you. Why does he think you will be able to defeat Thunderclan? You can't even through in a blow when you're attacking…" Keai growled more to herself than him. She paused, "But I guess that was the first time you actually went up against an opponent that is bigger than you. So, I guess I will teach you a few things, but I don't think I'm gonna teach you the moves too quickly, since you are still young..."

She paused again, this time actually talking to him. "Scourge and I think that you should get your stamina up before we do teach you how to fight, because it will be too **_hard _**for you, to do a lot almost **e****_very_**night." She spat at the end of her sentence. Then she muttered, "But I don't care if it's too hard for you…"

She stood and thought quietly to herself, and a slight evil look formed on her face as she thought of what lies ahead.

"Keai?" Mewed Xuezu after a little while, growing creeped out by the growing expression.

She glanced up, "Huh? Oh... sorry?"

She padded forward until she was gazing down at him, "I was talking to myself … wasn't I...?" She chuckled, "I do that a lot, you better get used to it." After a slight pause, she continued "Well anyways, come back here tomorrow, because it is almost sun-high in your... world? Or... well, whatever. Bye" Then she shooed Xuezu away with her tail and sat down, muttering to herself.

Xuezu walked a few pawsteps then looked back at Keai, S_un-high? It's still really dark_! he thought to himself. Then he closed his eyes and shook his head.

When he opened his eyes he was in his den, the sun was high in the sky, and large gray/black clouds crowded it. He stood up, gazing at the sides of his den.

"Guess I should find some food," he meowed to himself. Stepping out of his den he looked around, the sky was very bright, and a chilly wind blew. The wind carried the scent of rain.

Fluffing out his fur, he started to pad slowly away from his den.

He left the alley behind and padded toward the closest twoleg bin. Once he reached it, he jumped up only to find it closed.

xxx

Xuezu sighed "I've looked all around the twoleg place, but all the cans and bins are either shut or empty!" He shook out his fur, "Maybe… just maybe, there is one bin I haven't found yet."

He turned around, chose the closest alley, and padded down it, the wind felt suddenly stronger. A few raindrops fell from the sky and splashed onto the ground, onto all of the things around him.

The alley seemed to go on forever. Nothing changed; not the colors on the twoleg walls, nor the ground and patches of springy grasses… nothing.

But after a while, he noticed a different scent. It was fresher then the twoleg scents that swirled around the twolegplace.

A few heartbeats later he came to the end of the alley, and before him stood the towering trees of the forest. He stared up at them, their leaves where a variety of reds, browns, and oranges, and were floating down like rain.

"I found it…**_I found the forest!_**" He yowled as he skipped around. A bird call sounded in the distance, along with a soft rumble of thunder.

Once he stopped jumping about, he stared into the forest and the rain started to drip from the dark sky.

Then he turned around _I shouldn't go there, not yet… maybe tomorrow, after I find some food. _

So he padded back to the alley, as he reached the first wall he looked up at it, it had bright blue splashes on the top with a large red line underneath. _I can see this from my alley when I climb up a little higher, _he thought.

Then he left the forest behind him, and padded back to his den. Every time he passed a twoleg bin his jumped up to look in it, but he still found nothing.

By the time he got to his nest, it was pouring, drenching his fur and chilling him to the bone.

_Rain… Why does it have to rain? _he thought to himself. He looked around, he saw a low twoleg den and he padded over to it. He leaped up onto it, then onto the den that was not much higher and looked out. Just like he thought, he could see the tall twoleg den with the blue and red marks on it.

Xuezu jumped down and shook out his fur. Afterward he crawled into his nest, feeling the warmth of the moss and grass. He sighed and closed his eyes, he let the warmth seep into his body, and very slowly he drifted into sleep.

A little later he woke up to loud footsteps and soft mews. He opened his eyes to see that it was still dark and the moon shown in the slightly cloudy sky.

He stood up and shook his pelt; he put a paw outside and looked around. He saw two cats sitting side by side a little ways away from the den, their fur silver in the moonlight and their eyes two different colors of green one pair mint green and the other light green.

"Umm, sorry to bother you…" The one with jade green eyes mewed silently. "Y-you… may not remember us, but… I'm Mint and this is…" He nodded his head over to the other cat shyly. "T-this is my sister Pine."

"Oh… I did forget about you…" Xuezu murmured to himself, his words not loud enough for the other cats to hear. The excitement that came with the discovery of the forest must have chased the previous night's event from his mind.

Pine stepped a little closer and set something down, "T-this... is…" She trailed of and glanced at her brother. Then they both turned around and dashed out of sight.

"Why can't they ever finish their sentences?" He mewed, then looked at the small outline of the object Pine had put down.

He padded over to it and sniffed at it; it smelled strongly of twolegs, but mixed in with the twoleg scent was the scent of fish and salt. He pawed at it a little and felt a thin loop on the top it the object. He hooked a claw into it and pulled very slightly. The top curled up, showing a half-eaten can of brown/gray slop.

"What? What is this?" He muttered to himself as he gazed at the slop, "Is it edible?" he wondered. He sniffed it again then licked a little bit of it up. "At least it tastes good," he added, quietly.

**A/N**

**Finished editing chapter 1! ^^ Now I will plot out the rest of the story and start typing it up. Hope you enjoyed and if you enjoyed please leave a review! Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Thanks**

The dawn came quickly, the sun's milky light slanting through into Xuezu's den. Morning birds chirped from their nests, and a faint wind blew, whispering through the twoleg nests and into his ears.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, the last wisps of sleep leaving him. And shock went through his body in waves.

The peaceful sight he was expecting vanished, becoming dark and cold. Pine trees surrounded him on all sides, pinning him in a small clearing. Shadows seemed to consume the place, and his paws constantly slipped in mud when he stood up from his rest.

Green gaze flickering about, he soon saw Keai stalk toward him. Her gray fur was barely visible within the darkness of the pine forest, and the she-cat walked with a grace Xuezu didn't have—and probably couldn't muster.

Keai chuckled, "You kept me waiting, you know."

Ears laying flat against his head, the small black and white tom didn't respond, only let her continue with her harsh sounding words as he kneaded his paws into the slippery slop underneath him.

"And now that Scourge's chosen finally decides to show up, we only have a few more minutes left before sunhigh will be upon your world. Oh, such a lazy little kitty," she growled at him, walking around to his other side with a calmness in her stride. "But, I guess that don't matter," she stated, "I can still embarrass you in front of your precious Bloodclan leader."

His paws slid apart in a defensive stance. "I don't know how to get here yet! You're supposed to teach me these things!" Xuezu spouted, fur prickling along his spine.

Keai rolled her yellow-green eyes, swiping at the mud with outstretched claws as she mimicked his words. "And you think I care?" She asked darkly, then flinched when a voice called out from behind her.

"Keai, give the kit a break." The soft meow brought Xuezu's gaze over to the base of a tree. A long tailed, gray tabby tom emerged from the shadow, stopping mere tail-lengths away from the other Bloodclan cat. "Scourge's orders abridged."

"Humph." The she-cat turned her head sharply and prowled away, her tail lashing with every step.

Amusement glinted in the newcomer's eyes, "She's such a grumpy thing, isn't she."

Xuezu couldn't help but nod his head in agreement, his shoulders hunched against being called a 'kit'. _I'm__seven__moons__old.__I__am_not _a__kit._

"Name's Moon," the tom mewed. "And you're Xuezu, am I correct?" Seeing the young cat's nod he continued. "Weird name."

"It's not weird," Xuezu defended himself then looked down at his paws. "But I don't really like it."

Moon gave a cat-like grin, "Well, when you re-create our clan, you can change your name into whatever you want."

He nodded eagerly, hoping that this cat would further his training, rather than grumpy ol' Keai.

"You should go, if you're going to venture into the woods again," Moon meowed, his tail brushing creepily against Xuezu's shoulder and around his ear. The movement made the young cat shudder inwardly before he nodded tightly, instantly taking back his previous thought.

_Please don't let this cat replace Keai!_

Xuezu blinked once...

...And instantly found himself back in his den, his fur covered in stray bits of moss and grass. He could still smell Moon's scent in his nose, and he shook his head a few times to clear it, his mouth opening in a great yawn.

Getting up to his paws he stretched one leg out at a time before jumping down from his den and walking through the twoleg alley. Food was on his mind, along with what Moon had said to him before he left the dark forest.

How had they known that he had found the forest the clans lived in? It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense, until he thought about it. If they could come watch him in visions while's he was asleep, they could probably do the same while he was awake.

Shaking the thought away, he trudged along, looking around for anymore of those green bins. After his experience a couple days before, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go back into one. But his stomach out voted his fear and he found himself jumping up into one.

The bags were there again, but this time there weren't as many.

Xuezu looked around for any monster before climbing in and scratching open the bags. They were filled with the same foul smelling scraps as all the others.

Oh, he couldn't wait until he learned to hunt. Fresh meat instead of stale meat sounded so much better. Then other thoughts came back to him, thoughts of the forest.

When he had first found it, even though he was quite distracted with the excitement of the discovery, he had seen a few small animals scurrying within the undergrowth. The taste of their meat in his mouth nearly made him drool.

Then he shook his head once more, the distant dream fading away.

After he ate, he would go to the forest once more. Those trees needed exploring.

Grabbing the most edible scraps, he darted home and scarfed them down. Fading memories of Mint and Pine stealing his food made him swallow it even faster. Once the last crumbs of whatever he had eaten was licked clean from his whiskers, he jumped up onto the twoleg nest behind his den and looked for the building with the red and blue stripes.

One it was in sight, he climbed back down and headed through the web of thunderpaths in the direction he believed to lead to the forest. And he happened to be correct. Soon the trees towered not far in the distance, and he could see the shade they cast along the ground. The wind had died down by then, and the sun was falling from it's peak.

The thing that surprised him when he neared, was that there was another cat sitting beneath the trees. The cat was a long haired tortoiseshell tom with white paws and a white tail tip. It's silver-blue eyes stared at the bark of a single tree, ears perked for all sound.

As Xuezu approached, he saw the cat twitch his tail and ears. Tilting his head to the side, Xuezu padded to the cat's side. He had never before seen this cat wandering about the twoleg place, and he wondered whether he was a traveling rouge, a clan dweller, or a pampered kittypet.

But what shocked him, was that the tortoiseshell's eyes were completely dull, as if nothing was looking through them.

The tom's head turned in the direction of Xuezu, blank eyes half-closed. Calmly, the cat nodded in his direction and mewed a small greeting. "Hello there."

Xuezu's tail lashed once as he observed the cat. Awkwardly, he responded with a faint but noticeable, "Hello."

The blank cat turned his head once more and continued to gaze at the tree's bark. When Xuezu didn't move to pad away, the tom spoke once more. "What are you standing there for? Can't you kit's ever leave an old cat like me in peace?"

Xuezu shrunk away from the cat's breath as it brushed against his neckfur, annoyed that he was once again called a kit. "I'm sorry. Just wondering... why you're staring at a tree," he meowed in reply.

"So that's what has been standing in my way," the cat responded, giving his fur a slight shake and stretching out his back legs.

_He__doesn't__know__what__a__tree__looks__like?_ Xuezu almost let out a snort of amusement, but he couldn't hold back his next words. "You really don't know what a tree looks like?"

The long furred cat twitched his ear in Xuezu's direction. "Can't say I do. I am blind, after all," he stated, flicking his tail tip in irritation. "Now please go. You're sent is messing up my work."

Again, Xuezu held back a _mrrow_ of laughter. "What work?"

The blind cat turned his unseeing gaze onto Xuezu. "Work you have to right to know!" He growled, moving his full body around to face the young cat directly. "Stop butting into my life, you insignificant... uhg!" The cat swiped a paw in Xuezu's direction, making him flinch away from outstretched claws.

Backing up, Xuezu soon turned around and ran back to the alley. He wasn't hanging around that grouchy cat any longer. Wind blowing through his fur, he raced down the twoleg paths, enjoying every second of it.

Skidding around and corner, he once more jumped up into a rubbish bin and clambered inside. He might as well grab some food while he was out, so that he wouldn't have to hunt for some more once dusk strikes. Digging through the bags, he found another can with the fish-smelling slop inside it. Remembering the taste from the night before, he snatched it up by the round piece and climbed back out into fresher air.

Another smell brushed his nose, not one from the rubbish, but one of another cat.

Fur fluffing around his spine and neck, he looked to all sides. He could spot no glowing eyes from a shadow, or see any living creature sneaking around within a crack in a wall or within a grassy ditch. He sniffed again, wondering if the smell was just stale. Maybe from the blind cat he had met earlier. But it wasn't. It was fresh, and not a minute old.

Tilting his head to the side, he jumped down, landing hardly on the ground. The can was still in his mouth when he started padding quickly in the familiar direction. Xuezu didn't want to encounter another cat and risk getting his slop stolen from him.

Pawsteps sounded from behind, and he didn't even look back to see who was there before he took off down the twoleg path. _My fish!_ He growled in his mind, his small legs pounding forward and leaping over small objects that littered the floor.

_Stupid twolegs always leave their stuff everywhere..._

"Wait! Slow down!"

A barely audible meow radiated from just behind him, making him flinch and lose his footing.

Front paws slipping out from underneath him, he tumbled to the ground, his food flying from his mouth. The hard floor scraped his fur, the fall knocking the air from his lungs. Heaving in great breaths, he managed to twist his head around. A pink nose was stuck curiously in front of his face, a white head and green eyes also visible from where Xuezu laid.

Regaining his breath after a few short moments, he wearily pushed himself up into a sitting position. The head removed itself from his face and stared at him from a tail-length away.

A heartbeat later, the can clattered at his side, and he looked up to see Pine lifting her head and up sitting next to her brother.

"Hello," they said quietly in unison.

Xuezu flicked an ear in confusion. "Um... Hi."

Mint ducked his head. "Sorry f-for... scaring you," he mewed, his tail wrapping around his paws. Pine nodded in agreement with her brother before adding.

"You're the... only, um, cat we know. I guess. B-but we kind of need some..." She trailed off, and Mint finished her sentence for her.

"Help. We need s-some help."

"With what?" Xuezu replied, getting up onto all fours. He wasn't sure whether or not he was going to help them or not. He already had a huge request he had to finish before Scourge shredded his pelt. But maybe...

"The twolegs, who, um, housed us, brought in a dog!" Pine cut off his thought, her voice filled with panic. "We d-don't know what to do."

Mint nodded shyly. "Y-yeah. T-they used to let us out a lot, but now they've been locking us up more and more. They're trying to make us be- be friends with the dog..."

"And they've been giving our share of food to the dog. A-and..." Pine looked away, embarrassment and guilt clear in her gaze, "that's the reason why we tricked to you get your food." Mint slapped her face with his tail.

"Don't tell him that!" He hissed in a defeated tone. "Now he won't help us," he added, glancing over at Xuezu with sad eyes.

"I never said that," Xuezu responded, kneading his paws into the ground. Getting rid of a dog sounded exciting in his ears. "How do you want me to help?" He meowed almost eagerly, watching the expressions change in their eyes. First pleading, then to pure happiness, and last of all, hopelessness.

The cats exchanged a glance. "We were hoping... that you would know," Pine mewed, looking down at her paws.

Xuezu lashed his tail. "Show me the dog," he told them. "I can try and think of something."

Their eyes lit up. "Thank you," Mint meowed, turning around with his sister at his heels. "Come on. We'll show you!"

Xuezu nodded just as they took off, feet pounding on the hard ground toward their twoleg's nest.

xxx

Pine's and Mint's twoleg nest was a rather small, dumpy looking one on the far side of the twolegplace. He followed them down a small stone trail that led to a little covered opening in the door.

Pine looked over her shoulder at him and explained, "Our housers are away today. Like they always are around this time. But they'll probably be back soon, so we'll need to hurry if we're going to get rid of the dog."

Mint nodded, ducking through the flap in the front door and heading into the nest. "You can only go through the flap from the outside. If- if you try and leave from the inside, it won't open. That's why we can't get out until they open the door for us."

Xuezu followed the brother through, muttering a small, "Okay."

The nest's cold air brushed against him and made him shiver as he stepped inside. A smell similar to the rubbish bins floated to his nose and made him sneeze. _This is where they live?_ He thought as he took in the messy, disgusting sight. _And I thought my den was a terrible place to stay..._

Pine pushed passed him and bounded into the room. Side by side, her and Mint walked through the mess easily, moving into another room with Xuezu following them.

The strong stench of dog wafted over him and made him wrinkle his nose. In the corner of the room sat a pillow, and on that pillow sat a large, black dog with floppy ears. It's eyes were closed, and it seemed to be asleep.

At the sight, Xuezu felt the fur on his shoulders and tail start to stand on end. The thing was huge compared to the three cats, and he suddenly lost hope that they would ever be able to get rid of the beast.

He glanced around the room, looking for something that would be good to use as an escape if the dog got up and chased them. The only thing was a tall shelf with a few shiny white things on them. He didn't know what the objects were, but he knew that it would be out of the dog's reach—if they could get to the top of it in time.

Forcing his fur to lay flat, he slowly, cautiously, padded up to the large animal. It lazily opened a brown eye and stared at the young cat as he approached. A couple heartbeats passed before it jerked up and gave out a loud, ear-ringing bark.

Nearly leaping into the air at the sudden sound and movement, Xuezu and the siblings turned tail and darted back into the previous room. The dog didn't give pursuit, to their relief.

He shook out his fur and gave a shaking glance over to Pine and Mint. They returned it, and a silence bent over and hung above them.

"I-I didn't think the dog would be that big," Xuezu meowed, a little startled.

Mint looked at his paws. "We're sorry. We should have told you."

He shook his head. "No, it's okay. I'll still help. Somehow..." He added, unsure of his words. He was getting into something way over his head. Not being able to fight, and being so small, would probably make this the end of him if he got caught by the beast.

"Thank you," Pine mewed, crouching down to the dirty floor, awaiting Xuezu's instructions.

The young cat sat for a very long time, thinking of the many possibilities. The many ways that the dog could rip the three of them to flaky shreds; the many ways that the twolegs would come home sooner than they had thought and beat him with a stick. Or whatever they did to trespassers.

He shook his head to clear away the thoughts that were not helping the situation. He knew that, when he re-created Bloodclan, he would have to be leader. Or at least someone in charge. If he couldn't do this, then he might as well give up on making the clan of cats.

Then he stepped forward and peeked into the room that held the dog within. Pine and Mint did as well out of curiosity.

"When do the twolegs come home?" Xuezu mewed over his shoulder.

"Soon. A-at around sunset," the brother stuttered in reply. And Pine nodded to clarify that Mint was telling the truth.

Xuezu flicked his tail for Mint to run to the cat flap. "Come running back when the twolegs get here," he explained. "When they get here, we'll drive the dog to the door and force it out when the twolegs open it. I can get out then as well and hide till it's clear. We'll have to work fast, but it should work out in the end."

The siblings nodded, and Mint padded off.

...

Pine and Xuezu waited around the first room for a long time before her brother came racing back in, yowling, "They just got out of the monster!"

Whiskers quivering in fear and excitement, Xuezu darted off to the room with the dog, the other two on his heels. To their surprise, the dog was on it's feet, already heading toward the door to greet the twolegs.

Twisting around, the three followed it sharply. Mint, without warning, launched himself forward with a mighty leap. His claws scraped at the dog's pelt, making it give off a loud yelp. He then let out a hiss as the dog turned his head and snapped at him with a growl.

It seemed to dislike them as much as the cats disliked it.

Worried about her brother, Pine jumped forward and nipped at the dog's paw, making it lift it up and back up a step. A deep, rumbling sound came from it's throat when the three cats descended on it, tails lashing and teeth bared.

The doorknob clicked, making the four animals jump.

Leting out a cry, Mint tried to push the dog back with a few swipes to the muzzle, his claws scoring thin marks that slowly welled with drips of scarlet. Drips of blood.

The dog yelped once more before opening it's jaws wide and snatching Mint's shoulder with his teeth. Mint let out a screech, swinging his paws frantically to try and remove the pain that seared through his shoulder.

The door slammed open just as Xuezu smashed into the dog's side with a yowl.

It stumbled backward a single step before dropping the brother to the floor and turning tail. The dog pushed passed the twoleg's weird paws and raced outside.

Xuezu gave his fur a slight shake before shouts echoed in his ears. Fur fluffing up, he followed in the dog's steps for a short distance before veering off and hiding within a bush.

xxx

Xuezu padded out of the bush's shelter. But then he stopped and looked over his shoulder. He could see the two siblings rolling happily with each other on the ground, despite Mint's injured shoulder.

He nodded and meowed, "Oh, and thanks for the food yesterday," before darting back off toward his den.

**A/N**

**Well, here's chapter 2! Hope you all enjoyed! Might not update for a while though -_- I know. I'm sorry. But High School finals are almost upon me and I need to start studying before they choke me. Hehe. Want to keep my straight A's.**

**Also, it's so hard writing stories about cat's, because you usually have to hurt one in your story :'( I love cat's too much to hurt them. **


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